August 18, 2019
Hymn 228 - In heavenly love abiding
Prayer
Psalms 121-134 are all songs of degrees. These are songs that might’ve been sung during travel. Perhaps when they went to Jerusalem for celebrations or when they returned to Israel from Babylon.
Psalm 121
We can turn for help to the Creator of heaven and earth. He can help us with our mountains. He made them. He might ask us to go over the mountains or he might remove them.
We are all on a journey through life, like in “Pilgrims Progress”. There are things that are going to try to hinder us. God will help to keep us on the right path. He doesn’t want us to come off it.
The One that watches over us doesn’t sleep. He’s always watching over us. He’s always available for us. When Elijah was on Mount Carmel during the face off with the prophets of Baal, he made the joke that he might be sleeping. We know that our God has never and will never sleep.
When Peter was sinking the Lord was right there to grab his hand. God is near us, too. He is ready to help. Also, there isn’t a difference of his care during the different seasons of life. He will always be there no matter what.
In the scripture we read a lot about the evil that was happening back then. There is still a lot of evil in the world today. God keeps us from this evil. We don’t always know what’s happening around us or what would’ve happened if we didn’t have God helping us.
No matter what we do God will always be with us. Israel certainly needed Him and so do we. He will always be watching us and taking care of us.
John 14:19-31
We have Jesus’ life.
He was leaving and wouldn’t be visible on earth anymore. He told the disciples that they would see Him. That is done by faith. He takes up His abode in the believer. When the Comforter came It made quite a difference in the believers.
The Lord manifests Himself, not only in scripture, but in our daily path. As we turn to Him there is His provision, care, and undertaking making Himself known to us. We need the Lord in so any ways that there should be the fellowship or communion in our hearts. Do we have the experience of dwelling in the secret place of the Most High? The Holiest in the Old Testament times that was so guarded is open wide to us. He manifests Himself to us in mercy. Seek Him through the day to undertake for you. We should feel we can’t rely on our own strength. We need to be dependent on Him. There are a vast number of Christians who are dependent of the Lord that He is caring every one. He is beyond what we can mentally enter into.
There are certain things the Lord made very clear we should do. But as we go on with Him we learn of things that delight Him that He may not have explicitly asked us to do.
Darby puts verse twenty-three as, “Jesus answered and said unto him, If anyone love Me, he will keep my word, and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make out abode with with him”.
So, why does it sound like we must earn the Father’s love here? It sounds a little backwards from John 3:16 and other passages. But in John 3:16 it’s God loving the world while this passage is the Father loving His own. Love should be reciprocal. If it isn’t, it’s hard on the one loving. The ways He loves calls for a response. It could also be seen as motive. We read the Father loved the Son because He lay down His life. The Father always loved the Son, but now He had another reason to love Him. He will have another reason to love us.
As the Lord’s people there should be the response of love. It’s evidence of our association with Him. “If you don’t love Him it’s because you don’t know Him. You don’t know Him because you don’t serve Him. Because to serve Him is to know Him and to know Him is to love Him”.
Hymn 312 Jesus loves me! this I know
Prayer